Allegheny Energy, one of the eastern region’s biggest energy suppliers, provides
electric service to over 1.5 million customers in communities located in
Pennsylvania (PA), West Virginia, Maryland, and Virginia, by operating 20 power
plants with a generating capacity close to 9,700-megawatts (MW). With the power
output being close to 95 percent coal, nearly 90 million tons of northern
Appalachian coal is used by Allegheny Energy per year. Under the implementation
of electric deregulation, a portion of the Allegheny Energy’s generating assets
were transferred to Allegheny Energy Supply through state-approved plans.

Allegheny Energy Supply owns and operates the LM6000 Group which consists of
three Combustion Turbine (CT) facilities located in Chambersburg, Gans, and
Springdale, PA. Each facility has two highly efficient 44-MW simple cycle
natural gas CTs and each unit provides enough electric power to light
approximately 40,000 homes in the region. These units were designed to meet
short duration-peak power demands. The LM6000 units are fueled by clean burning
natural gas and can be brought online to full load within 10 minutes. Each unit
is operated either locally by the three site-specific CT Specialists or remotely
from a control room at the Springdale facility.

Besides all operations, maintenance, and environmental activities that occur at
the three sites, the CT Specialists; Regional Director; Production Manager; and
Safety, Health, and Training consultant are responsible for all safety
activities as well. The LM6000 Group was first recognized as an OSHA Voluntary
Protection Programs (VPP) Star participant on August 25, 2004. Their VPP status
was reapproved on December 12, 2007.

Success Impact:

LM6000 Group’s Worker Involvement the Safety and Health Management System Leads
to Many Positive Results

One of the core elements of the VPP is worker involvement. Since the LM6000
Group began the application process to VPP, workers have been involved in safety
improvement processes. Workers seized the opportunity to provide their feedback
to management on safety to help ensure they return home safely at the end of
their workday.

As a result of being involved in the facilities’ safety and health management
system, contributions by the LM6000 workers include the development of best
safety practices. For example, management recognized the importance of having
workers’ buy-in on the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) used on the job,
increasing the likeliness of workers wearing it when and where it is required.
Previously, workers were required to wear arc flash protective clothing while
conducting switching operations in the LM6000 switch yards. The arc flash
protective clothing tended to be very hot, and at times, the arc flash hoods
that were worn over the head fogged up making workers’ vision difficult. Workers
attended a Voluntary Protection Programs Participants’ Association (VPPPA)
regional conference and identified a power ventilated arc flash hood that would
minimize fogging issues and help keep workers more comfortable while performing
switching operations. Management asked workers to identify, evaluate, and
recommend the best powered ventilated arc flash hoods to use which were then
purchased.

During engine removal, workers were previously required to remove a steel column
from the middle of a doorway which weighs approximately 350 pounds and two doors
rested against this column. Originally, the column was removed by the use of
rigging and mobile equipment which potentially exposed workers to pinch-point,
struck-by, and caught-between hazards. In addition, complicated rigging had to
be utilized to assure the steel column was balanced and transported safely.
Workers identified a new engineering control practice to help eliminate exposure
to these hazards by attaching the steel column to one of the two steel doors
where it can be easily be swung out of the way (clearing the opening for engine
removal). This change eliminated the need to manually handle and use rigging
equipment to remove the column which resulted in eliminating the previous
hazards associated with completing this job. And finally, the LM6000 packages
lacked identified fall protection anchorage points in areas where work was
routinely performed. Workers identified several locations where vertical
lifeline systems could be used to provide fall protection, and they worked with
a fall protection vendor to have engineered fall protection systems installed.

The LM6000 VPP Star sites have never experienced a recordable injury, illness,
or fatality. Lance Zielinski, Regional Safety, Health, and Training consultant
attributes their flawless injury and illness rates to management’s commitment to
safety and health excellence and worker involvement. He stated:

"We have a philosophy of engaging our workers and
wanting them to be involved in
the entire process, and if
you want them to remain engaged, you have to be
committed to acting on their ideas and recommendations."

The table below presents the LM6000 Group’s injury and illness rates since they
received VPP reapproval in December 2007: